Assassinations that Changed America Video

John Wilkes Booth (May 10, 1838– April 26, 1865) was an American stage actor who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's theater in Washington, D.C. , on April 14, 1865.

Leon Frank Czolgosz  was the assassin of U.S. President William McKinley.  Anarchist that hated all forms of government and exploitation of the poor by the wealthy.

Lee Harvey Oswald- alleged to be the assassin of President of the United States John F. Kennedy, who was fatally shot in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963.

Andrew Jackson- Richard Lawrence, an unemployed house painter, approached Jackson as he left a congressional funeral held in the House chamber of the Capitol and shot at him. His gun misfired.  A delusional Lawrence believed that the U.S. government owed him a large sum that Jackson was keeping from him.  Jackson, who was 67 at the time, repeatedly clubbed Lawrence with his walking cane.

James Garfield was shot in Washington, D.C. on July 2, 1881 by Charles J. Guiteau at 9:30am, less than four months after taking office as the 20th president.  Garfield died eleven weeks later on Sept. 19, 1881.  Guiteau was probably insane at the time and claimed to have been commanded by God to kill Garfield.

Franklin D. Roosevelt -On February 15, 1933, Guiseppe Zangara attempted to assassinate Franklin Delano Roosevelt while the then President-elect was giving a speech in Miami, Florida.  As Roosevelt finished a short speech at Bayside Park, Zangara fired five rounds from 25 feet. Roosevelt was completely untouched by the gunfire due to Zangara losing his footing atop an uneven chair, and a bystander striking his arm. One bullet struck Chicago's Mayor Anton Cermak who was shaking hands with Roosevelt at the time. Four others were wounded, including Mrs. Joseph Gill, wife of the President of Florida Power and Light.

Ronald Reagan-  “Honey, I forgot to duck.” President Ronald Reagan’s bantering words were intended to ease his wife’s anxiety as he lay in a hospital after being shot in the chest on the afternoon of March 30, 1981.  When he appeared, his press secretary, James Brady, stepped toward the reporters to field questions. The President waved. At that moment, a man in a tan raincoat pointed a .22-caliber revolver and fired six shots in two seconds. Secret Service agent Jerry Parr shoved Reagan into the waiting limousine, and it immediately lurched out of the driveway.  Other agents and police officers quickly subdued John W. Hinckley, Jr., a 25-year-old college dropout from a wealthy family. In addition to wounding a police officer and a Secret Service agent, he had shot James Brady in the head.

1.       Analyze the following quotes; decide who might have said this, what was their opinion, and what is your view of their opinion.  Defend your view with logical arguments.

·         "The power confided to me will be used to hold, occupy, and possess the property and places belonging to the Government."

·        "I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe I have no lawful right to do so...."

·        "In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war.... You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the Government, while I shall have the most solemn one to 'preserve, protect, and defend It.' . . ."I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies..."

·        If the cotton States shall decide that they can do better out of the Union than in it, we insist on letting them go in peace. The right to secede may be a revolutionary one, but it exists nevertheless....Whenever a considerable section of our Union shall deliberately resolve to go out, we shall resist all coercive measures designed to keep it in. We hope never to live in a republic, whereof one section is pinned to the residue by bayonets. 

                                                                                                                                            New York Tribune, 1860

·         In Lincoln’s first inaugural address he countered this NY Tribune suggestion:             

I hold that in contemplation of universal law and of the Constitution the Union of these States is perpetual. Perpetuity is implied, if not expressed, in the fundamental law of all national governments. It is safe to assert that no government proper ever had a provision in its organic law for its own termination. Continue to execute all the express provisions of our National Constitution, and the Union will endure forever, it being impossible to destroy it except by some action not provided for in the instrument itself.

Brainteaser directions:  

1.  On a separate piece of paper write the first and last name of the person in the picture.

2.  Their names must be spelled correctly.

3.  Write one complete sentence or more describing their significance in American history.

4.  This can only be submitted once per month.  It will be worth 2 points.

5.  Pictures will be posted in the classroom.

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